About the Author

Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about my story here, or visit my other blog: The Everyday Minimalist.

Steve in W MA

What I do like to do is every once in a while maybe every month or so, maybe every two months, cook a REALLY SPECIAL fancy/gourmet meal instead of my normal everyday cooking. Like, instead of sticking with the 1.99 meat special, get that $12/lb cut and make a nice wine reduction sauce for it and those special garlicky mashed potatoes with all the cream and whatnot. Don't forget the $20 bottle of wine and the nice dessert either. And of course invite a friend or even two.

I call it "splurging in".

Steve in W MA

The genius of this post is not in finding out whether eating out or in is less expensive. I already have the answer to that if you want to ask me.

The genius is that because when you do the experiment you are doing it in a spirit of curiousity, you will be more likely to pull off a full week of eating at home. After all, this isn't deprivation, it's research!

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Thanks for the post! I know in my gut eating at home it cheaper, but it ain't easier — don't care what any one says. Still, I'll try Method 1 you listed in this post. I think it will give me the picture of where the money is going that I was looking for.

I eat at home all the time. I only allow myself to eat out once a week. I don’t find it very hard because most of the time when I eat out my stomach will hurt later from how it’s cooked. My cooking never hurts me. 🙂 Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I love to be in the kitchen and can make almost anything out of nothing. Takes a little practice, that’s all.

I can’t imagine eating out more than once a week. It isn’t just money, it’s my time. I’m busy! By the time I get home, get the dogs walked and fed, and check my email for work updates, I’m no longer interested in going out and cooking a quick, budget-friendly, fairly healthy meal just isn’t that difficult. Plus I usually go to the gym in the evenings, so I need that little home break (and an episode of “Family Guy”) before heading out into the world again.

The other thing about eating in is that I can control the food. I can limit our salt, make sure our meat came from happy animals pre-death, add as much cilantro as I want, and, well, frankly I don’t have to be courteous to anyone (which is a huge factor — sitting in a restaurant means waiting and being nice… neither things that I’m particularly good at).

Only once in a while will we hit a restaurant for dinner, but that is only when I’m relaxed and ready to enjoy it … and so I can wear cute shoes.
.-= Kat G´s last blog ..T-Shirts and Jeans =-.

I can’t imagine living somewhere in the world where it would be cheaper to eat out. In London it’d be 2-10 times more expensive, without trying very hard. I am an excellent cook though, and am not charging myself by the hour. 😉
.-= Monevator´s last blog ..The unseen assets on your balance sheet =-.

definately cooking is cheaper. well for one person anyways. I like creating different flavours but then again, eating out from time to time is nice and you get to sample stuff you might not cook at home.

I have trouble picturing anyone who eats out every single day. On our honeymoon, we ate out for every meal in some way, shape, or form. We didn’t have a kitchen. Perhaps this was partly because funds were limited, so that limited our choices. But I have to assume that most people eating out every day couldn’t exactly go crazy.

Either way, eating in is by far the most frugal. I’m far from perfect on always cooking or eating in every single day. But I know I save a ton of money by not giving in to every desire to eat at a restaurant.

I think the best way to track how much it costs to eat in is to keep all groceries you buy. Because it’s not really accurate to only count what you eat. Whatever you buy — whether you use it or not — is part of the expense of trying to eat in. It might go bad before you use it, but you bought it in an attempt to make eating at home possible. So I say you should count it.

Honestly, no matter how steep groceries are, I just don’t think that eating out could ever be cheaper than eating in. You can always make cheaper recipes and items that last a long time. You can go vegetarian and use beans & rice as a protein source. But there aren’t many food joints around that can let you eat for under $5 consistently.
.-= Abigail´s last blog ..Freebie Friday =-.

JB

For me, eating out is much more expensive than dining in. This is because when I cook a meal it may cost the same as dining out but make enough food for 4-5 servings. Eating out would be enough food for 1-2 servings.

I agree with previous commenters, that one would have to familiarize themselves with the basics of cooking and be open to eating leftovers. That’s where a lot of the savings (time, money, energy) are for me.

Jillian

For me, it’s all about coupons coupons coupons! Oh, and supermarket salad bar salads, which are generally very reasonably priced, fill you up, and are healthier too (depending on what you put in it!).
.-= Jillian´s last blog ..Great Reads: Girls Like Us =-.

I definitely agree with Meg that it is cheaper to cook only if you actually learn to cook. If you throw together a lot of pre-made ingredients or waste ingredients, it’s not as cheap. However, when you go out to eat, you have to include tip and tax, not to mention the damage to your waistline.

My husband and I are pretty good at making several recipes out of same or similar ingredients, so nothing goes to waste. However, yesterday I experimented with phyllo dough for a cheese and onion tart. I have to figure out what to do with all the leftover phyllo!
.-= oilandgarlic´s last blog ..Boycotting Whole Foods, And A Health Care Quiz =-.

Meg

It’s MUCH cheaper and healthier to eat at home, but sometimes you have to teach yourself a bit about cooking. You can spend A LOT eating at home if you’re not careful.

If you find it cheaper to eat away from home ask yourself:
* Am I spending too much on pre-prepared meals (or even ingredients) and calling that “cooking”?
* Am I wasting a lot of food by not eating leftovers? By not using scraps to make other meals? By buying too much? By not properly storing food?
* Am I spending way too much on specialty ingredients that could be substituted? Or making expensive meals in general?
* Am I eating too cheaply and unhealthily when I do eat out?
* Can I reduce the cost of my ingredients by shopping around, using coupons, using generics, etc.?
* Can I grow some stuff at home, even if it is just some herbs?

I find it also helps to have some fall back meals that are cheap, healthy, tasty, and easy for those times when you don’t want to spend a lot of time planning and prepping. For me, that’s currently quinoa with a bit of ketchup or salad dressing and whatever else I want to throw in. I’ve also relied on steel cut oatmeal into which I threw some frozen banana and maybe a small piece of chocolate (a little goes a LOOOONG way). And today I plan to eat some more toast with homemade (but made in bulk) hummus 🙂

esperanza

since i’m single and live w/ a roomate who will eat my food if i buy i groceries i buy only breakfast foods and i leave them at work and then eat out for lunch/dinner usually only one meal just on the weekdays….my weekends i sometimes buy the ingredients for just that meal I never go over 140$ a month….and i never waste food. Maybe I’m just an exception to the rule and I’m small so my body doesn’t require much.

My coworkers and I picked one day a week or typically every payday to eat out – it was usually our traditional sushi lunch or we went to Subway, sometimes McDonalds or Quiznos.

As for eating dinner out… it barely happened. When I was living on my own, it only happened once and I saved money for that. My parents and I rarely eat out and if we do my dad uses gift cards from all the Air Miles points he has. I still have a $15 gift certificate from Red Lobster when I contacted HQ and complained about the crappy service we received (it was that bad to warrant a letter to HQ).

You can create wonderful meals at home; with money being tight it actually allowed me to enhance my cooking skills at home and create amazing dishes that you would find on Food Network!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..30 Day Challenge: No soda, day six =-.